Something Worth Coming Back To
by PiercetheNightVale
Summary: Months into Rey's training, the First Order finds her. Can she and Luke survive long enough to return back to the Resistance, and her best friend?
1. Chapter 1

Rey desperately wanted to stay at the Base for as long as possible, but she knew that she had to leave with or without Finn. In the end, the feeling in the pit of her stomach and General Organa's advice led her to leave to find Luke only days before her best friend actually did wake up.

Even as guilt for leaving him ate her up, Rey knew she had made the right choice. Every day she had spent on the Base had made her feel more uneasy. Maybe it was her new abilities, or her sheer hatred for being confined, but she was going stir crazy. But the moment she left in the Millennium Falcon, she felt at peace.

Besides, she knew that finding Luke was something she ultimately had to do alone. Not even Chewie would be accompanying her the whole journey, and it wouldn't have been fair to bring Finn along only to leave him.

So she left him, and tried to forget the worry that panged her in every still moment. Of course it only worked when her life was in danger and she needed to focus on other things, but it was a good sign that Rey could get him out of her head at all.

As soon as she found Luke, though, all thoughts other than her training for forced out of her mind. Rey wasn't one to pry into people's personal lives, but it seemed to her that Rey had become a new hope for Luke, and he wasn't allowing her to slack off. In all honesty, Rey liked it. She liked feeling important, and most of all, needed, for the first time in her life.

But that didn't mean that she didn't miss Finn in the lonely hours of the night. She had to have been gone for months. There was no way to adequately keep track of time on the island, but the plan had been to return immediately with Luke and train back at the Base. But Luke wasn't anxious to leave and Rey could hardly stop him.

She ended up sending Chewie back on the Falcon. He returned every few weeks to bring news of the Resistance and she sent back reports on her progress. Luke only allowed her communication with General Organa, and the only letters she sent were written by her. She spoke of Luke, but he always refused to write his own letters.

She could never bring herself to ask about Finn, and the General never included anything. Maybe she could sense that learning of her friend would only disrupt Rey's training, but she wished to at least know that he was alive.

Every time her thoughts wondered to home, Luke reprimanded her. "Attachments are dangerous" he warned, and Rey believed him but she never fully obeyed.

It was probably 4 or 5 months into her training when the First Order first found them. She and Luke had been meditating when they both sensed danger on the horizon. Rey's eyes snapped open to see that Luke was already standing.

"You felt it?" he asked. Rey couldn't mistake the surprised and impressed tone. Yes, they were in danger, but Rey was becoming more in touch with her instincts. Her victory was short lived, however, because that's when the shooting began. The only weapon either of them had was the lightsaber, and that was useless against the blasters of Ren's Stormtroopers.

"Someone else is here," Luke said, "Could it be?"

"It's been about a month," Rey replied. She felt it too. Maybe, just maybe Chewie had come to bring a message, if he had, then they could escape. They couldn't return to the Base, but they could get to safety

Rey ran to the cover of the trees, with her master close behind. It was slim chance, but a chance nonetheless. By some miracle, luck was on their side and they could make out a wing of the Millennium Falcon near the beach. Chewie must have sensed the danger and hid the ship as best as he could in the limited cover.

As Rey and Luke waited for a chance to run, they took note of their surroundings. There weren't nearly as many Stormtroopers as Rey had initially thought. When she was getting shot at, she had imagined a hundred of Ren's underlings coming to take her again, but in reality it was probably only a dozen or so. The small numbers made sense. A large force would have caught the attention of the Resistance, but no one would notice a small ship with an elite team. No one was coming to their rescue, Rey knew. But unlike in her past, Rey now had people by her side and a few people to live for.

"Master," Rey murmured as she noticed the troop walk out her eyesight.

"Go," he commanded.

The two took off running as best as they could while staying hidden. They made it almost to the Falcon before anyone noticed their movement. But when they were noticed, lasers began to rain down all around. She thanked god for the trees that provided enough cover that they were not blown away immediately. Chewie must have seen them, because the door was already open for them to dash inside.

She was steps away when a blast knocked her to the side. She heard Luke yell next to her, but she had already fallen. Rey wasn't entirely sure where she had gotten hit, but pain had erupted over her entire body. She had never been shot before, and she didn't really enjoy the sensation.

As Rey's vision began to go black, she felt herself being carried, but whether it was by Luke or a foe, she did not know.

* * *

I know this chapter was a bit short, but I wanted to set things up and jump straight into the action. Let me know what you thought


	2. Chapter 2

When Finn woke up, he was certain that he had died. There was no way he could have survived his back getting sliced open by a lightsaber. Finn was under no illusion that he was going to defeat Kylo Ren. But after Rey got hit, Finn had to do something. So he picked up the sword and gave it a fighting shot, but he wasn't trained. Finn had gone down almost immediately, and his last thought was that he failed Rey.

But he woke up. And he thought he had died. Rey had been hit much harder than he had. They must have died together. But moment after opening his eyes, the pain came back. That's when he was sure he was alive. Death was supposed to be painless, and Finn felt like he was being torn apart. He was sure he screamed, but he couldn't tell. The next thing Finn knew, there was someone standing over him, "you're okay," the person said, but Finn's mind turned that person into Kylo Ren, coming after him again. Finn attempted to fight, but he was soon subdued and tied back down to the table he was on.

The next time Finn woke up, he was able to keep his senses. The pain was there, of course, but the hallucinations were not. This time, Finn knew he was alive and that he was probably back at the Resistance Base. He blinked a few times and turned to see Poe standing a few feet away.

"Are you going to hit me again?" Poe asked.

"I thought you were Ren," Finn replied lamely as he closed his eyes in embarrassment.

"Are you alright?" Poe asked, too concerned to make a sarcastic remark.

"I guess I should be grateful I'm alive," Finn said as he flinched trying to sit up.

"As someone who has cheated death more times than he can count, luck doesn't have much to do with it. However it happened, it was all skill" Poe said, "And I for one have been dying to know how you guys pulled it off."

"Us?" Finn asked, "Then Rey's alive?" he was cautiously optimistic, but the longer Poe went without talking, the more anxious the silence became. It seemed like an eternity before Poe took a deep breath, "Poe? Is she alive?"

"Yes," Poe said finally.

Finn let out a relieved sigh, "Why do you look like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like you're about to tell me something I'm really not going to like."

"I really hate how perceptive you are." Poe sighed.

"Poe," Finn urged, "What happened?"

"Okay, before I tell you, I want you to know that Rey made the decision on her own… with some persuasion, but she didn't do anything she didn't want to."

"Can you stop being cryptic for like, five minutes and tell me what the hell is going on."

"How long do you think you've been asleep?

"I don't know? A day or so?" Finn replied.

"Yeah, I was worried you'd think that," Finn said, "It's been more like 2 months"

"What?"

"The first time you woke up, it had been 3 weeks, but you hurt yourself again, and we had to re-stabilize you," Poe explained, "It's been more or less 2 months."

"Okay, okay" Finn groaned, "That's not so bad."

"Yeah, I wish that was the end of the story," Poe continued, "Rey's gone."

Finn sat back up, leading a new wave of pain to flood his mind. He began to swoon, but Poe held him up. Gone? No, it wasn't possible. She wouldn't just leave him, not after everything that had happened.

"General Organa sent her on a mission to find Luke," Poe said, "And she left. And never came back."

"How long?"

"A month," Poe replied, "The problem is that with the map, and the Falcon in light speed, the round trip should have taken her about a week. Rey had orders to return in no more than 2 weeks, with or without him. So even if Luke had been uncooperative or if she couldn't find him, she should have been back by now"

Finn put his head in his hands. There was so much to process, but Finn could only think about how he had left Rey unconscious in the snow. What if that was the last time he would ever see her?

"Is she dead?" Finn asked. His throat closed, he could barely say the words, let alone actually believe they were true.

"No," Poe said firmly.

"How can you be so sure?"

"This is where it gets weird," Poe said, "The Millennium Falcon is back, and so is Chewie. But no Rey or Luke."

"What?"

"If they had died," Finn flinched at the thought, "The General would have held a memorial at least. She knows more than she's letting on."

"What?"

"General Organa has always been secretive, but not about Luke. She shared every new lead, but I don't think she has control of this mission anymore."

Poe's tone had shrunk to a whisper, so soft Finn could barely hear him, "I don't think they're coming back, Finn. Not any time soon, at least."

"No," Finn said, "She wouldn't just leave."

"I'm sorry, Finn"

"No," Finn replied fiercely, he was mostly trying to convince himself, "Rey wouldn't leave, she was finally starting to belong somewhere" _like with me,_ he thought. But maybe she really belonged with someone more like her, and not with a traitor who could barely fight.

"Get some rest," Poe said, seeming to sense that Finn had too much to deal with already, "General Organa will probably want to talk to you soon."

Finn wanted to protest, but he could barely keep his eyes open anymore. There were a million thought in his mind, and he didn't have the strength to process any of them. Against his instincts, Finn laid back down and shut his eyes. But instead of a peaceful sleep, Finn was plagued with nightmares of Rey abandoning him, or worse, her dying alone on a planet far, far where he couldn't save her.

* * *

I wanted to clarify that everything I'm writing about Luke is just my own personal headcanons. Someone mentioned that it was ooc, and I agree. But it's my theory that after Kylo's betrayal, he began to lose faith in his philosophy and returned to the traditional jedi code, hence his opinion on attachments. This is definitely something I will explore in later chapters, but for right now I'm going off of original trilogy canon.

Anyways, there may or may not be one more chapter of set up, and after that we can get into the actual story, and hopefully have some more action and angst, let me know what you thought


	3. Chapter 3

When Rey opened her eyes again, she wished she could close them. She was trained in fighting through her pain, yet she wanted nothing more than to give into her pain and sleep. She feared never waking up, but the pain coursing through her almost made her consider death the best option.

 _Snap out of it,_ she thought in a brief moment of clarity. Death was the selfish choice, Rey needed to live for the Resistance. They needed a Jedi, the galaxy needed her. And so did Finn, she promised to come back to him.

Rey focused on her breathing. With every intake, she pictured life flowing back into her. Energy entered through her lungs and filled her entire body with the fire of life, until she was able to open her eyes fully and take in her surroundings.

She was on the Millennium Falcon, she was sure of that much. She was in the cargo bay, away from where she should be at least copiloting. But the ship was in flight, so they must at least of escaped. She slowly sat up, trying to blink the dizziness out of her mind. She only succeeded in very nearly blacking out again.

"Rey?" a voice asked.

"Yes?" She responded, her eyes still screwed shut unable to take in the harsh light without becoming nauseous.

"We're safe, Rey," he said, Rey was fairly certain it was Luke, but she didn't want to risk passing out again.

"How safe?"

"I don't know," he replied honestly, "I suspect we're being followed, but they haven't caught up yet."

"How comforting," Rey grumbled.

"It is comforting when the alternative is death," Luke replied, "Open your eyes, Rey."

"Can't" she snapped.

"You can," Luke said, "You can, and you will."

"Master, please, let me rest a bit longer."

"I would if I was sure we could get back to the Base undetected," Luke said, "But in case of a fight, we need to be ready."

Rey groaned, but obeyed. The first few attempts led to wooziness, but finally Rey was able keep her eyes open for more than a few seconds, "What happened?" she asked as she noted the damage the ship had taken.

"I carried you back in, and Chewie someone managed to navigate his way out of a firefight. We're definitely being followed, but I can't tell if it's Ren himself or just his troops."

"You can't sense him?"

"He's concealed himself well," Luke shrugged, "But so have we. I'm hoping that we'll be able to lose them eventually."

"We can't go back to the Base," Rey realized.

"No, we can't," Luke said bitterly, "We can't go back to the island, or the Base."

"Then where are we going?"

"Ask Chewie," Luke replied, "It's been quite a long time since I traveled the galaxy, I deferred to him."

Rey gave Chewie a pointed look and received a grunt in return, "Abafar?" she gasped, "You must be out of your mind." Chewie shook his head as if to say he knew very well what he was doing and didn't care.

"The outer rim planet?" Luke asked, "It's certainly remote."

"And a death trap!" Rey lamented, "It's impossible to keep your sense of direction in its atmosphere. We'll crash in minutes."

"Don't underestimate your pilot, Rey," Luke warned, "If Chewie says he can navigate it, he will."

Ret bit her tongue, there was no use arguing about it now. Of there was one upside, the First Order troops would either die with them or stop following all together. The momentary panic had made Rey almost forget about her injury, which was now beginning to throb again. Rey lifted her shirt and examined the wound, it appeared she was hit with the blaster a few inches below her ribs from the side. It was a probably a miracle she hadn't bled out.

"How do you feel?" Luke asked.

"I have been better," she admitted, "But I'm alive."

"You have Chewie to thank, it seems he and Han were injured enough on their own that he knew how to take care of you."

Rey flinched at the mention of Han. Though it had already been months since his death, he still haunted Rey, one of the first people to ever show her compassion and he had been cruelly ripped away. It seemed like the galaxy was dead set against Rey having a family.

"Get out of your head, Rey," Luke chastised, "It's unwise to dwell on the past right now."

"I wish you wouldn't do that," Rey grumbled.

"I didn't do anything," he replied, "Your emotions are written all over your face."

Rey tried her hardest to set her face back in a neutral expression, the way it always used to be before she met such observant people, "How long have we been traveling?" Rey asked, trying to change the subject.

"A day or so," Luke replied.

"A day?" Rey said, "I've been passed out for a whole day?"

"Your body was trying to heal itself, I'm surprised you weren't out longer."

"What if there had been a fight? I would have been useless," she lamented.

"Now isn't the time for this," Luke snapped, "You need to go change your bandages."

Rey frowned but stood up, grabbing the bandages on her way to the cargo hold to change. She had to lean against the wall for support every so often, but she was able to walk without much trouble. Assuming she had a blaster or something, Rey figured she could still hold her own in a fight. She prayed it didn't get to that point though. She wasn't supposed to be engaging in useless battles, she was supposed to be training. Rey had left useless fighting on Jakku, now she was supposed to be preparing for more important things, such as an actual fight with Kylo Ren, not just his lackeys. Rey could practically hear Luke's voice in her head telling her to let those negative thoughts though.

Rey had told Luke about Han's death as soon as she met him, an she'd admitted that part of the reason she was hear was to avenge his death. The first lesson Rey learned was that Sith lords like Darth Vader and Kylo Ren were made from vengeance. The way Rey would defeat them was through compassion and forgiveness, the way Luke had dealt with his father. But no matter how many times Luke wanted her, she could never truly give up and finding justice for Han Solo. After everything they'd been through together, she couldn't just let it go. Rey figured Luke knew, and he would deal with her sooner or later. She just hoped later came after she'd had her opportunity.

When Rey reached the cargo hold, she was sweating from exertion and clutching her side. Maybe she wasn't as well off ass she'd hoped. Rey carefully removed her still blood soaked shirt. She appreciated that no one had undressed her, but the clothes she was in were hard with dried blood and got new what else. She could barely hold them without gagging.

A few minutes of searching produced a new set of clothes. They were men's clothes and far too big for her, but they were clean. Rey took a deep breath and began untying the dirty dressing from her waist. A wave of nausea hit her as she hit the tender flesh surrounding her wound. There was no doubt it was a laser blast, and from a worrying close range from the look of it. A large portion of the skin surrounding the gash that was charred and blistered. _How am I even alive?_ She wondered as she carefully wound the clean bandages around her torso.

As Rey put the clean clothes on, something pure white caught the corner of her eye from the box she had pulled the clothes from. A closer examination revealed a generous pile of parchment. _I should be dead,_ she thought. She should be dead, and could die at any time, but the preposterous thought that occurred to her was how the Falcon always seemed to survive. Maybe, just maybe a letter would survive with it. She might die, but she stilled owed him and explanation. Before she could reason herself out of it, Rey grabbed the parchment and pen and began writing. The letter began, " _Dear Finn, if you're reading this it means either I'm dead, captured, or have done something very stupid and don't think I'm coming back."_


End file.
